Saturday, February 21, 2015

Taiping - Day Trip to Kuala Kangsar

While in Taiping we made a day trip to nearby (about 35 kms) Kuala Kangsar, the so-called Royal Town of Perak; the Sultan of Perak still has his residence there. Kuala Kangsar was the actual Royal and Colonial Capital of Perak until the British moved the capital to Ipoh in 1876.

The 9 AM local bus from Ipoh to KK rumbled southeast along the old road North-South road picking up and dropping off ladies returning from market, the odd school boy or girl with parent, older folks with small bags (visiting friends?), and young men with backpacks who leap on on off the bus with ease.

The ticket taker was a genial, spry, efficient Muslim lady.

View from our seats during the 1-hour trip.

Kuala Kangsar's iconic clock tower is near the river confluence. Note that kuala means "river confluence".

We walked along the Perak River for a couple of kms towards the Sultan's Mosque and Sultan's Palace.

The Sultan's Mosque is a beautiful building inside and out. Our guide books said there was no visiting by non-Muslims but the rules must have changed as we were welcomed by a female greeter, signed the visitor's book and roamed around. Notable inside the mosque is the custom floor carpet which matches the roof, chandelier, and dome.

The Sultan of Perak lives in his palace so it is closed to visitors and hardly visible from the road. But here's a glimpse of the Indo Art Deco stylings.

One of the former royal palaces is now a museum housing artifacts and memorabilia from the previous sultan who died in 2014. We spent about an hour checking out his stuff - no photos allowed inside.

There are several British schools in KK. Most prestigious is Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK). More on it here.

OK, thanks John, now I see the brown water from the tributary spilling into the Perak river. And Crabtree Creek entering the Neuse River looks very much the same. http://goo.gl/NulhNj Ignore the Goose Creek error, I've reported it to GM.